Searches for new physics using the tt ¯ invariant mass distribution in pp collisions at s √ =8 TeV

Abstract

Searches for anomalous top quark-antiquark production are presented, based on pp collisions at √s=8 TeV. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb−1, were collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. The observed t¯t invariant mass spectrum is found to be compatible with the standard model prediction. Limits on the production cross section times branching fraction probe, for the first time, a region of parameter space for certain models of new physics not yet constrained by precision measurements.